Willis, 46, of Muskegon Township, is accused of kidnapping Heeringa, 25, from the Norton Shores gas station where she worked on the night of April 26, 2013 and then killing her. The young mother’s body has not been found.

Thirteen people testified when the preliminary hearing began Tuesday, including Heeringa’s boyfriend, one of her co-workers and police officers. Also on the stand was the 16-year-old girl who says Willis tried to kidnap her in Fruitland Township in April of this year. She escaped and her report to police led to Willis’s arrest.

Willis’ defense attorney, Brian Hosticka, brought up Heeringa’s rocky relationship with her boyfriend, with whom she has a son. Hosticka also questioned the boyfriend about Heeringa’s heroin use.

Hosticka also challenged police who checked out a tip about Willis just after Heeringa vanished and questioned why officers didn’t immediately write a formal report on an interview with Willis. When cross-examining the 16-year-old, Hosticka focused on the fact that she had been smoking marijuana and drinking at a party before the alleged abduction.

Heeringa’s murder is one of two Willis has been charged with. He’s also accused of killing 36-year-old Rebekah Bletsch as she jogged near her Dalton Township home in June 2014. Authorities say ballistics show a handgun found in Willis’ silver minivan — like the one police had been searching for in the Heeringa case — was the one used to kill Bletsch.

Rebekah Bletsch (Source: Facebook)

The Bletsch case has been delayed at least until January after Willis claimed his rights were violated, saying that jail guards took notes meant for his attorney and turned them over to investigators. Investigators deny seeing the notes.

Willis was also charged with assaulting and kidnapping the 16-year-old, but that case is on hold pending the resolution of the murder cases.

KALAMAZOO, Mich. (WOOD) — Authorities in Kalamazoo are searching for two suspects in connection to the fatal shooting of a Western Michigan University student.

Kalamazoo Public Safety officers and WMU police responded to a report of a man who had been shot in the 700 block of S. Howard Street, west of WMU in Kalamazoo, around 10:30 p.m. Thursday.

When they arrived on scene, they found the body of a 20-year-old man who had died from an apparent gunshot wound.

WMU officials confirm the victim was a student at the university, but his name has not yet been released.

“The University has learned that the victim of last night’s shooting was a WMU student. The WMU community is stunned by the realization that a promising life has been lost. We extend our condolences to the family and commit to working with law enforcement officials to ensure that the responsible individuals are apprehended and that justice is served,” said WMU President John M. Dunn in a release.

Witnesses told authorities that two men ran from the scene. Authorities believe they left the area in a vehicle that was parked nearby.

The first suspect is described as a black man, about 5 feet 10 inches tall with a slender build. He was last seen wearing jeans, a black hooded sweatshirt and had a red bandanna covering his face. He was also armed with a handgun.

The second suspect is described as a black man, about 6 feet 4 inches tall with a slender build. He was last seen wearing jeans, a dark-colored hooded sweatshirt and had a dark bandanna covering his face.

Authorities have not located either of the suspects.

Anyone with information is asked to call KDPS at 269.337.8994 or Silent Observer at 269.343.2100.

ZEELAND, Mich. (WOOD) — As snow continues to fall, so are driving speeds through parts of West Michigan.

Authorities shut down eastbound I-96 between Fruit Ridge Avenue and M-11 near Walker around 9:20 a.m. Friday because of crash involving a jackknifed semi and two other vehicles. Less than 15 minutes later, a second crash near Walker Avenue closed the right lane of the highway. It’s unclear if anyone was injured in the crashes.

EB I-96 at M-11 (Ironwood Dr)Freeway ClosedDue to a CrashOttawa County

It’s the same stretch of road where a semi jackknifed and two cars crashed Thursday. That crash completely closed eastbound I-96 at Walker Avenue for about 15 minutes. The left lane remained closed for a longer period of time as hazmat crews cleaned up a spill caused by the crash. Dispatchers say no one was injured in that crash.

Traffic was also backed up on westbound I-196 just west of the Hudsonville area Friday morning because of a crash at exit 55 to Zeeland. It’s unclear if anyone was injured in the crash.

Dispatchers Friday morning said they were not seeing any major issues on the roads in Ottawa, Kent, Allegan, Van Buren and Barry counties, but warned there may still be some slick areas and black ice, so drivers should take it slow.

While the highways had been salted and cleared Friday morning, some rural roads were still covered in snow.

Shortly after the first snowflakes started falling Thursday, calls of slide-offs and chain reaction crashes started flooding dispatch centers across the area. One Kent County dispatcher told 24 Hour News 8 Thursday morning he’s never seen his call board light up this much in his entire career.

The Ionia County Sheriff Office urged drivers to slow down and give themselves plenty of stopping distance after a head-on crash seriously injured one driver Thursday morning.

Meanwhile in Mecosta County Thursday, two female drivers were taken to the hospital with non-life threatening injuries when a vehicle slid through a stop sign and hit an ambulance at the northbound US-131 exit ramp at Perry Street. Authorities say the ambulance was not in “emergency mode” and EMS personnel were the only ones inside the ambulance.

Dozens of vehicles are smashed in a deadly pileup on I-96 near Fowlerville on Dec. 8, 2016. (WDIV)

However, the most serious crash happened on Westbound I-96 near the Fowlerville exit in Livingston County. NBC affiliate WDIV reported at least three people died in the crash involving about 40 vehicles.

Crews from the Kent County Road Commission and MDOT are clearing roads. Drivers can track their progress through a tool MDOT introduced last winter. The Ottawa County Road Commission also planned to work through the night and into Friday morning.

Jerry Byrne with the Kent County Road Commission has endured many West Michigan winters. His advice to drivers: “Give themselves extra time and slow down. And obviously when the trucks are out there, have some patience and give us some room,” said Byrne. “The trucks are spreading salt (and) plowing snow. Don’t pass us on the right — the snow is coming off there.”

Here are three safety tips that are good to remember as we readjust to winter driving:

Drive slower and increase the distance between you and other vehicles.

Clear off and turn on your car’s headlights, even in the middle of the day.

FOWLERVILLE, Mich. (AP) — Authorities say a husband and wife are among three people who died in a pileup on snow-slickened Interstate 96 in Michigan.

The Livingston County sheriff’s department says 69-year-old Homer Leon Tew and 62-year-old Theresa O’Connor Tew of Ann Arbor died after their vehicle was among 53 vehicles involved in Thursday’s pileup in the Fowlerville area.

The department says a 28-year-old driver believed to from Hollywood, Florida also died in the crash, but his family hadn’t been notified as of Friday morning.

Authorities say 11 other people were taken to hospitals with non-life-threatening injuries. The westbound lanes of the interstate about 55 miles west of Detroit were reopened Thursday night after being shut for about 12 hours. The pileup is under investigation.

Several crashes also were reported on Detroit-area freeways.

Deadly pileup on I-96 near Fowlerville

Dozens of vehicles are smashed in a deadly pileup on I-96 near Fowlerville on Dec. 8, 2016. (WDIV)

Snow totals have been most impressive southwest and northwest of Grand Rapids as is typical with lake-effect snow events with a west-northwest wind.

Snow totals as of 8am Friday morning

Additional accumulating snow will fall today and will be heaviest again southwest of Grand Rapids. Another inch or so is possible in the city of Grand Rapids while Kalamazoo and the city of Allegan could receive another 3 to 6 inches. Lake-effect snow will let up during the afternoon.

Winter storm watches, warnings and advisories are issued by county, but not all parts of the county will get the same amount of snow. In Ottawa County, heavy snow is more likely in Holland than in Marne. In Barry Co., heavier snow is more likely near Gun Lake than in the northeast corner of the county near Woodbury.

The next “snowmaker” arrives Saturday night through Sunday. This will bring widespread snow through most of Lower Michigan, not just localized snow that you typically see with lake effect. It will actually impact many other states regionally, as well such as Wisconsin and Northern Illinois and Indiana.

Widespread snow will arrive Saturday night through Sunday

An area of low pressure will likely track over Lower Michigan bringing another 4 to 8 inches of snow. Fortunately it appears the wind will be quite light with this system so blowing snow and drifting will not be an issue. More snow is expected at times for the remainder of the week mostly the lake effect variety.

Storm Team 8 is tracking what will be the coldest air of the season so far as an Arctic blast descends across the Great Lakes Wednesday and Thursday of next week. Highs in the teens and lows in the single digits will be likely Wednesday and Thursday. Wind chill temperatures are expected to be below zero for the first time this season. The European model is actually colder.

OTISCO TOWNSHIP, Mich. (WOOD) — Authorities say the driver who sparked a head-on crash in Ionia County was unable to stop for the traffic light.

The crash happened around 9:19 a.m. Thursday at M-44 and M-91 in Otisco Township, just outside of Belding.

In a post to Facebook, the Ionia County Sheriff Office said a 25-year-old woman from Ohio on southbound M-91 couldn’t stop for the light and slid into the intersection, hitting a vehicle driving by a 66-year-old Belding man. The impact of the crash sent the Belding man’s vehicle into oncoming lanes, where it was hit head-on by another vehicle driven by a 26-year-old man from Fenwick.

A Dec. 8, 2016 photo of the wreckage following a head-on crash near Belding. (Ionia County Sheriff Department)

One driver was taken to the hospital with serious injuries. The two other drivers were not injured, according to authorities, who are not releasing their names at this time.

The Ionia County Sheriff Office is reminding drivers to slow down on slippery roads and give themselves plenty of stopping distance.

GATLINBURG, Tenn. (AP) — The Great Smoky Mountains National Park and the resort town of Gatlinburg, Tennessee, have reopened to the public after wildfires that caused 14 deaths and damaged about 2,500 buildings.

After officials moved barriers blocking the roadway at about 7 a.m. Friday, a steady stream of traffic could be seen heading into town, including cars and food delivery trucks.

Most of the main tourist area in Gatlinburg was spared by the fires that were whipped into the city by hurricane-force winds the night of Nov. 28, and officials are keen for people to return to the city with a population of less than 4,000 that draws more than 11 million visitors a year.

SOUTH HAVEN, Mich. (WOOD) — Small pieces of shrapnel still work their way from under Jim McCloughan’s skin, fragments of rocket-propelled grenades from a mission in the Vietnam War he didn’t expect to survive. The nightmares still wake him.

But now, 47 years later, thanks to an act of Congress, the former U.S. Army medic is a step closer to receiving the military’s highest honor, the Medal of Honor.

McCloughan, now 70, is a former South Haven High School teacher who coached football, baseball and wrestling.

Back then, he was 23, one of two medics among 89 men from Charlie Company going up against 2,000 or more enemy soldiers in the battle of Nui Yon Hill from May 13 to 15, 1969.

He went in by helicopter under heavy fire and almost immediately rescued an injured soldier.

“I got him across my shoulders, weaving along the way so we didn’t get hit by the enemy,” he recalled.

The first night, McCloughan was hit by shrapnel from a rocket-propelled grenade.

“In the back, from head to foot in the back, and I was actually dragging two men off a berm and into a trench line when that happened,” he said.

His lieutenant told him to get on the next helicopter out.

“I knew that I’d gotten hit because I could feel the pain, but I was so busy doing what I had to do, and the adrenaline was flowing, that I really didn’t know how badly I was hit.”

He refused to leave. By that time, the other medic had been killed.

“I knew that they were going to need me,” he said. “I wasn’t going to leave my men. Nope. I thought that would be my last day on Earth, though.”

He said it was teamwork that allowed him to rescue his men.

“I did have to go out and bring men in, but I was also covered by machine gunners, they covered me well; we got some good help from air support; we had the Navy out on the China sea shooting their big guns in on top of the enemy,” McCloughan said.

After 48 hours, they left the mission with just 32 fighting men. A dozen had died, one was missing in action and the others were injured.

McCloughan was hit a second time by shrapnel and shot in the right arm.

“I got shot right here in the arm with an AK-47 and I actually stitched that,” he said, pointing to the scar. “I didn’t do too bad.”

He was credited with rescuing 10 soldiers and a Vietnamese interpreter.

“Dragged them or carried them, whatever way I could get them back in,” he said.

He received a lot of military awards, but not the one his uncle believed he deserved: the Distinguished Service Cross. After several years of pushing and with support from fellow soldiers, the U.S. Secretary of Defense decided that wasn’t enough. He recommended him for the Medal of Honor.

But service members must be recommended for the award within five years of the act of heroism — so lawmakers worked up legislation to waive that requirement.

The legislation, pushed by U.S. Sen. Debbie Stabenow, a Michigan Democrat, was approved by the U.S. House of Representatives last week and the Senate on Thursday. It is now headed to President Barack Obama’s desk to be signed into law.

“There’s a lot of people I couldn’t save,” he said. “I’m not a hero. I just did my job. I’m not a hero. There’s a bunch of heroes there, a bunch of heroes. You know, any veteran will tell you the real heroes, they’re not here with us.”